Alan Victor, executive vice president, Lansco Corporation: Stores star, Alan Victor, has retail business in the bag.

Retail phenom, Alan Victor, got his start in real estate at a time when the lights had pretty much gone out on Manhattan's shopping scene. Times Square was a hotbed of strip clubs and drug dens, crime rates were higher than the city's skyscrapers and the discount stores along Delancey Street were the mainstays of a population plagued by blackouts, riots and government corruption.

Yet where others saw a city in decline, Victor saw an opportunity to make his mark in one of the world's most exciting hubs. "I was born and raised in Eastchester and went to a school that had 144 students--New York City always held an allure for me. It was exciting and I knew I had to get there."

It was the mid 1960s and Victor had just finished his six months of active duty with the Army Reserves. He'd graduated from Boston University and studied at Boston University Law School, but said he could never quite see himself as a lawyer or doctor. Instead, he answered an ad for a commercial broker at the boutique Sutton Organization in Manhattan and set about building a resume that would ultimately rank him among an elite band of men and women credited with re-inventing New York City as a global Mecca of business, culture and, of course, retail.

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In 1986, he pulled off the benchmark deal that brought Polo Ralph Lauren to the Rhinelander mansion on 72nd Street where the designer opened Manhattan's first flagship store and set the pace for a transformation that would ultimately turn the city into the world's most lucrative retail destination. Each of the deals that followed did, in its own way, help shape the shopping districts of Manhattan into the distinct corridors they are today. From the 110,000 s/f Warner Bros store in a re-vitalized Times Square, to the Versace Emporium that helped re-launch Fifth Avenue as the Golden Coast of retail, Victor clocked up the deals that had everybody talking.

Yet amidst the perceived glamour of it all, the unassuming Victor recalled "just doing his job" during those early years when he said the market was not quite as competitive as it is today.

"There weren't that many people in the business back then," he said. "It was a smaller industry with fewer landlords. There was much less competition and it was a much friendlier business."

His company later became Sutton and Powne which ultimately went onto merge into Coldwell Banker. Victor, though, was invited to join a band of brokers from the firm who aimed to launch their own retail brokerage, Lansco Corporation.

"I had a big mouth and made deals," Victor joked about the attributes that his partners Stuart Lilien, Mike Antkies, Jack Walis and Howard Dolch said he brought to the table. "We were young and I guess they thought I was worthwhile and had a promising future."

The decision to set up a retail brokerage was a bold one--at that time, there were just a handful of specialized firms operating in the city--but it was the kind of pre-emptive strike that propelled the fledgling company and it's young brokers into an emerging market where they would each define their careers.

"I started talking to retailers and developing relationships with them. At that point, most of the retail business was done in department stores and there were a lot in New York City. As far as any kind of luxury retail was concerned, it was all done in the department stores. Then people like Ralph Lauren started to go out on their own because they were unhappy that they couldn't show and sell their products the way they wanted to in a department store."

Although Victor had, by this time, built an enviable network of retail contacts and even played the occasional hoops game with Lauren, it was his pitch to the designer's executives that earned him the exclusive contract to search for a suitable launch pad for the flagship venture.

That pioneering move paved the way for others, and Victor recalled, "As more and more commercial and residential changes took place, the retail grew along with it. We began to see more and more domestic and international designers arrive in the city and we were lucky enough to represent quite a few."

Those included Perry Ellis, Gui LaRoche, John Weitz, Liz Claiborne, Gianni Versace, Armani and Cole Haan. Victor brought J. Crew to the city and is the exclusive broker for Talbots, which has a 54,000 s/f flagship at 54th and Madison and 10 other locations throughout the metro area. He has worked out strategies in urban markets across the US for the likes of NIKETOWN and Reebok and even represented mega-franchise, Dunkin Donuts at one time.

"I've certainly worked from one end of the spectrum to the other, but even I could never have imagined that retail would get to where it is today," said the former chairman of REBNY's store leasing committee. With rents along Fifth Avenue tipping $1,500 per square foot last year, Victor asked, "Will it reach a point where the retailers are going to say enough is a enough? I think that is going to be a function of what the economy is doing and how this reflects on their business. Some of those businesses won't expand in New York because they feel they don't want to pay every penny to the landlord. Then again, what's happened in New York is a little different because the market is being held up a lot by the tourists who can buy so much cheaper here--because of that, New York seems to be defying what's going on in other areas."

Victor noted a proliferation of moderately priced, fashion-oriented foreign retailers also proving that Manhattan remains fertile ground for traders. "One of our associates repped the Japanese retailer, Uniqlo. They have 700 stores in Japan and saw New York as a place for a flagship. We have a lot of European and Asian flagships coming here and testing the waters and they keep expanding. Some are doing huge volumes and can afford to pay high rents--it's the people who are not doing business that will be hurting. For the most part, though, you don't see vacant stores on Fifth Avenue."

After over 40 years in the business, Victor shows no signs of letting up and is currently involved in the roll out of both Talbots and NIKETOWN across the country. Lansco has also developed internationally through a partnership with Corporate Facilities Advisors International (CORFAC) and reps tenants developers and landlords in 80 global markets. "We've had more success here being partners than a lot of people have being married," joked Victor, who's been married to wife Avis for 38 years. "But we all love the industry and are very proud of what we have achieved."